USA > Ohio > Fairfield County > History of Fairfield County, Ohio, and representative citizens > Part 47
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
423
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
and William M. Evarts were all kindred. Many of these relatives were lawyers and judges, among them being Taylor Sherman (1758 to 1815), a grandson-three genera- tions removed-of Edmond Sherman, who received a land grant in Ohio, and was a prominent lawyer and judge in Norwalk, Connecticut.
His son Charles Robert was admitted to the bar in Norwalk, Conn. In that city he married Mary Hoyt, and in 1811 they came to Ohio and settled in Lancaster. (See sketch of Judge Charles R. Sherman.) He was the father of the subject of this sketch and of U. S. Senator, John Sherman.
General Sherman was, by the death of his father in 1829, left an orphan, and Hon. Thomas Ewing, from the high regard in which he held the memory of Judge Sherman offered to adopt the lad, then only nine years old. Thus it was that William, or "Cump," as he was most familiarly known, came to live with the elder Ewing, and remained there until he was sixteen, at which time he entered West Point as a student of military science. In 1850 he married the eldest daugh- ter of his benefactor, Hon. Thomas Ewing. The association with Mr. Ewing and his noted family was, all through life, a wonder- ful benefit to General Sherman, for after Webster's death Thomas Ewing was the leader of the American bar. James G. Blaine, who knew him well, and was often a guest at his home in Lancaster, says of Mr. Ewing : "He was a grand and massive man, almost without peers. With no little familiarity and acquaintance with the leading men of the day, I can truly say I never met one who im- pressed me so profoundly." Thus it is readily seen that young Sherman had about him great men, for the Lancaster bar at that time had a long list of men of national repute, and
from these grand spirits he had daily train- ing, though largely unconscious of the fact.
His early education was obtained in Lan- caster schools. While on the playground among his playmates the tendency to com- mand was seen, for he would marshal his boys on his side of the game, and by en- couragement and direction win in their youthful sports. It is related that a Norman lad conquered, by grit and determination, a huge wolf hound. The royal father of the lad looked on in amazement at the contest, but felt that it was an indication of future triumph. It was, for history now calls that lad William the Conqueror, the hero of the Battle of Hastings. So can we see, in the early life of the Sherman lad, on the school ground, something of the qualities that led the Union forces to grand and lasting victory at Shiloh, at Vicksburg and Chattanooga, and that led them in irresistible sweep "From At- lanta to the Sea."
He graduated from West Point sixth in his class, 1840, and he rose rapidly from the rank of Second Lieutenant to Captain; then, in the Civil War to Brigadier-General of Volun- teers; Lieutenant-General in 1866, and Com- mander-in-chief in 1869.
Perhaps his most noted military achieve- ment was the famous "March to the Sea." This was accomplished in the face of bitter opposition by the military experts who called the "March" the work of insanity, and said the army was destined to disaster.
In this expedition he took great risk, for he was in the enemy's country with no base of supply, and without surplus provisions. Yet he pressed boldly "On to the Sea," and on Christmas, 1864, sent this laconic message to President Lincoln : "I beg to present to you as a Christmas gift the City of Savannalı with 150 guns, plenty of ammunition and
421
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
25,000 bales of cotton." General Grant pro- nounced him "the best field officer the war had produced." Sherman had originality of design, such fertility of resource, and bril- liant strategy that the world commended his genius. When his father, Charles Robert Sherman, was mildly criticized for giving his infant son the name of a "cruel, blood-thirsty Indian," he quietly replied : "Tecumseh was a great warrior and the greatest Indian of his race."
General Sherman was a plain, direct and forceful speaker. One of the most widely quoted expressions of any public man was that uttered by him in an address delivered at the old State Fair Grounds, now Franklin Park, Columbus, Ohio, on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 11, 1880, before the Re- union of Civil War Veterans and ex-prison- ers of war, in which he said: "There is many a boy here today who looks on war as all glory, but, boys, war is all hell."
From one who had seen war as he had seen it, this expression of a great truth caused profound discussion of the question, "Is war ever justifiable?" General Sherman died in February, 1891, in his home in New York City at the age of seventy-one. He was buried, at his own request, by the side of his wife and son William, in a cemetery in St. Louis, and he sleeps there today beneath a modest stone designed by himself.
General Sherman has honored Lancaster, where he was born and reared. and his name will never cease to be spoken with pride by every citizen of Lancaster and Fairfield County.
This sketch can be closed in no more force- ful manner, than in the words of his biog- rapher and friend, General Manning F. Force: "General Sherman was the most picturesque figure of the Civil War. His character was absolutely pure and spotless."
HON. JOHN SHERMAN
Of the many famous men born in Lan- caster, Ohio, perhaps John and William Tecumseh Sherman are the two who are world wide in their fame. Jolin Sherman was born at Lancaster, May 10, 1823. In early life, he struggled as other fatherless boys have done. He lived four years, from eight to twelve (1831-35) with a cousin of his father's at Mt. Vernon, Ohio. On his re- turn to Lancaster he attended Howe's Acad- emy for about two years, then we find him as rodman for Colonel Curtis, an engineer. His leisure moments were all spent in improving his mind, else how could he, at the age of twenty-one, after studying law with his brother, Charles T., at Mansfield, be admitted to the bar in 1844, by the Supreme Court of Ohio. He began the practice of law with his brother, Charles, at Mansfield and it was soon evident that he would rise to eminence. In 1852, at a Whig Convention in Columbus as a delegate, he made a brief, though brilliant speech, and from that moment his political success was assured. In 1854 he was elected to Congress and as Congressman, U. S. Sen- ator and member of the President's Cabinet, he was successively in office for 42 years. Senator Sherman was a true statesman and perhaps did more for his country in the lower House of Congress, and in the Senate, than any other one man. The "Philadelphia Ledger" in 1892 said of him, "In a conspic- uous degree Senator Sherman of Ohio repre- sents the noblest principles and traditions of the Republican party. He is an astute politi- cian ; but much better than that, he is a wise, public-spirited, broad-minded statesman."
In Washington, D. C., Oct. 22, 1900, this noted man died and he is buried beside his wife in Mansfield, Ohio, which city was his
425
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
home for so many years. Like his brother William Tecumseh, he was modest and un- assuming. He had great power as a speaker, but greater as a quiet reasoner and thinker. While he did not attain to the high rank of president, his work as a public servant will stand the test of time. In all his success he never forgot the debt he owed to his mother, whose good sense, strong will, and tender love reared a large family almost unaided and alone. In his autobiography he pays her the tribute of a devoted son : "Of my mother I can scarcely write without emotion, though she died more than forty years ago."
JOHN TRAFFORD BRASEE
John Trafford Brasee, in former years a leading light of the Fairfield County Bar, and one of the county's most eminent citi- zens, as well as one of the state's most eminent jurists, was born near Hillsdale, Columbia County, N. Y., December 24, 1800, a son of William and Magdalen (Trafford) Brasee. His paternal grandfather, Andreas Brasce, served in the Revolutionary War, as a member of the Tenth Regiment, Albany Company (Land Bounty Rights).
During the winter of 1817-18 he went to school to Arnold Truesdell, a young man but a very competent teacher. He spent this time in improving his penmanship and in com- pleting his knowledge of arithmetic. While at- tending this school ile wrote into a book pro- vided for the purpose the entire contents of Dabell's arithmetic and worked out every sum therein and copied the work into that book. Thus the whole subject became very familiar to him and he never afterward had any diffi- culty in solving the most abstruse problems.
sity at Athens, Ohio.
He proceeded to Athens, reaching there shortly after the Fourth of July, 1819 and went to board with Gen. John Brown, with whom he boarded almost continually for seven years. He im- mediately entered the grammar school of the college, having about $100 of J. H. Piatt's money, which was the principal currency at that day in that part of Ohio. He gave it as payment on his board to General Brown.
He had not been in Athens long before he made the acquaintance of Henry Bartlett, the clerk of the court, and was employed by him to assist him whenever he had leisure time. After being there for a couple of years he taught a village school for one quarter. In January, 1824, Mr. Thomas Ewing was desirous of en- ploying a competent teacher to take charge of the Academy at Lancaster and Mr. Brasee was employed at $200.00 for six months, he first having obtained leave of absence from the faculty of his college.
Coming to Lancaster with Mr. Ewing, he stopped at John Noble's hotel. That evening, in the parlor of that hotel he met the trustees of the Academy. These included Mr. Ewing, Judge Scofield, John Noble, Samuel F. Mac- Cracken, David Reese and others. After in- forming him about their academy, the meeting adjourned with the understanding that he was to be the teacher.
He remained here without intermission for six months, which brought him to August, 1824-the time when the commencement at Athens took place. He returned to Athens, graduated with his class and declined a reap- pointment as instructor in the Academy.
Soon after his return to Athens, Mr. Bart- lett, being an aged man, gave him charge of all his clerical work-dividing fees equally-and tlie possession of a room near his office where
He came to Ohio in the summer of 1818. Knowing his education to be defective, Mr. Brasee made inquiry for the best school in Ohio and was directed to the Ohio Univer- he could read law. He began the study of law
426
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
with Joseph Dana, the professor of languages in the college, who came every Saturday night to examine him in his studies. In the spring of 1826-his two years of the study of law had expired-he having entered himself as a law student before his graduation. At that time he was well qualified for admission to the bar. When the Supreme Court met at Burlington in Lawrence County, he was ex- amined by Judges Peter Hitchcock and Jacob Burnett and was admitted to the bar. He se- lected Gallipolis as a good place to open his law office. Thomas Irvin, who lived there had the winter previous been elected President Judge, and Samuel F. Vinton was then and for several years afterward a member of congress. He provided himself with a fine horse and other necessary things and began to attend the courts regularly in the counties of Gallia. Lawrence, Scioto. Pike. Jackson. Athens, Washington and Meigs, and at Point Pleasant, Va.
His practice grew far exceeding his expecta- tions, and by the fall term of 1829 he pur- chased a fine lot, paid for it and commenced the building of a two-story dwelling. In November of that year-1829-he was mar- ried to Mary Jane Scofield, daughter of Judge Elnathan Scofield of Lancaster, O. That winter they boarded with the widow of Ed- ward W. Tupper and in the spring following moved into their new home, which was just completed.
Mr. Brasee's law practice became very ex- tensive, covering not only this state but ex- tending into numerous other states and into the United States Courts. Mr. Brasee first ap- pears in the Ohio reports in the case of Smith vs. Bing, 3, O .. 33, which was decided in 1827, the year after his admission. The Ohio bar. during Mr. Brasee's active career, contained many able men, of great ability and legal learn-
ing. He stood as a peer among them and was not only an able advocate and profound lawyer, but a highly cultured and agreeable gentleman. He was noted on the circuit for his apt and quaint anecdotes. He was a brilliant speaker and was very successful before juries. His arguments on the facts of a case were remark- able for their completeness in presenting the whole case, showing the mastery of the facts and an appreciation of the strong and weak points on each side, and ability to sift evidence, and apply it to build up his theory as to the truth of the matter. His leading characteristic was his knowledge of the law in its most elementary principles. In special pleading and in equity pleading he was a master and he was ready and proficient in all matters of evidence and practice, which made him formidable in the trial of cases. His forte was in arguments to the court. His mind was at once acute and logical and his industry was such that he was always found fully armed and ready for the fray, whoever might be the champion of the other side.
JOHN SCOFIELD BRASEE, one of the leading lawyers of his generation at the Fair- field Co. bar, was one of Nature's great men. He was born in Gallipolis, Ohio, August 19. 1832, his parents. being John Trafford Brasee and Mary Jane (Scofield) Brasee.
In 1833 the parents of the subject of this sketch, John T. Brasee and Mary Jane (Scofield) Brasee, removed with their two children-Ellen (later Mrs. T. W. Tall- madge) and John S. Brasee-to Lancaster, Ohio, where the latter continued to reside until his death, which occurred February 23, 1905. His early education was ob- tained in the public and such private schools as were available. At the age of thirteen he entered the Greenfield Academy, re-
REFORMED CHURCH, RUSHVILLE
H
M. E. CHURCH, RUSHVILLE
PUBLIC SCHOOL, RUSHVILLE
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, W. RUSHVILLE
429
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
maining there two years, under the tutor- lectual vigor and professional greatness, age of the distinguished educator Dr. John Williams, after which time he spent one year at Milnor Hall, Gambier, Ohio, under the Rev. Norman Badger. He then entered Kenyon College, became a member of the Philomathesian Literary Society, and at the completion of the entire scientific and clas- sical courses. ranked first in his classes in scholarship and deportment.
A pleasing incident occurred in 1882. when John Trafford Brasee Jr., son of John S. Brasee, was receiving his A. B. degree from this same institution. Without solici- tation, or any knowledge of the faculty's in- tention on his part. President Bodine, with an eloquent tribute to the achievements of John S. Brasee, conferred upon him the M. A. degree.
On the completion of his college course, John S. Brasee immediately entered upon the study of law with his distinguished father John Trafford Brasee, and was ad- mitted to the bar in 1854. In partnership with his father he began the practice of his profession and continued with him until the latter's retirement in 1860.
John S. Brasee was endowed by Nature with a master mind, and by the opinions of his elder compeers, among whom were Thomas Ewing, Sr., Henry Stanbery, John Trafford Brasee, Hocking H. Hunter, and many others, he rapidly rose to great dis- tinction as a lawyer of thorough and com- plete education, great genius and power at the bar, both as a profound jurist and bril- liant advocate, and as a student and leader of thought and argument on great legal questions. One by one these legal lights went out and he remained the oracle of the Lancaster bar as long as he lived.
He was now at the zenith of his intel-
and as counsel in more than two hundred cases pending at one time upon his home docket, and a practice extending over the State of Ohio and into various other states, and into all the courts, State and Federal, he was for many years the busiest man in Fairfield County. His friends and contem- poraries throughout the State, conceded that, as lawyer and advocate, his talents and achievements were second to none in the jn- dicial history of this County.
Gen'l. Chas. H. Grosvenor in writing of Judge Brasee says :- "It is seldom that there has appeared in Ohio a man who reached such distinction as a lawyer and yet took so great and constant an interest in public affairs of every character.
He was able, eloquent and accurate, he never boasted. He held the profes- sion of law in such esteem and placed its attributes and requirements at such high valuation, that he could not do any act in connection with his profession that did not honor his life and adorn his character.
In social life John S. Brasee was one of the pleasantest of men. His wit and repartee were of the highest character and an hour with him in social conference was a pleasure and a joy to his friends among whom f might mention, Gen'l Sherman, John Sher- man, Gen'l Lew Wallace, Gen'l Thomas, Gen'l Custer, Gen'l Scofield, Rutherford B. Hayes, James G. Blaine, Gen'l Phil Sheridan and Chief Justice Waite. He left behind him a record of a great lawyer. He was a faith- ful friend and a citizen the memory of whom the state of Ohio may well be proud."
Mr. Brasee was a general practitioner, ex- celling in all departments of the law and was an expert in railroad corporation law. He lived in an age of great development of
130
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
railroads and always manifested an active interest in the same. He was the efficient power in the organization of the Ohio and West Virginia Railroad, now a part of the Hocking Valley, and was its first president. As a boy he assisted in the survey of the Cincinnati & Muskingum Valley Railroad, now a part of the Pennsylvania system, and during his entire professional career of nearly fifty years, was employed by them in some legal capacity, and as general solicitor for about forty years prior to his death. He was tendered the position of general counsel for the Pennsylvania lines west of Pittsburg magnates to locate in New York City and and was sought by the Nickel Plate Railroad there engage exclusively in this department of law, both of which offers he declined, not wishing to remove from his native state.
The Bar of Fairfield County has included, among others, such giants as the elder Ewing and Henry Stanberry ; and a greater compliment cannot be paid to it than to refer to the fact that in later days it num- bered among its members. Chas. D. Martin and John S. Brasee; the peers of any lawyer that Ohio has yet produced.
HON. CHAS. D. MARTIN
Hon. Charles D. Martin, whose services on the bench and at the bar and in offices of great public responsibility have justly made his name a distinguished one in Ohio, was still in active practice when he had reached his eighty-first year, an age when the ordinary inan seeks his "slippered ease." Judge Martin was born August 5, 1829, at Mount Vernon, O., and was a son of Joseph and Susan (Thomas) Martin. His ancestry is traceable to both England and Ireland. In 1806 his grandfather became an early settler in Knox County, Ohio.
Charles D. Martin prepared for a higher educational institution in the local schools and later became a satisfactory student in Kenyon College, at Gambier, and following this studied law for several years with the law firm of Martin & Effinger, in Fairfield County, and in 1850, was admitted to the bar. He almost immediately located at Lancaster and with her bar he has been almost contin- uously identified ever since, his intervals of absence being when performing high official duties at other points, for which his excep- tional talents made him eligible. In 1858 he was elected to Congress on the Democratic ticket and served usefully and honorably through his term, which expired in March, 1861. In the troubled days that followed he . had no desire to continue in political life, and for many years thereafter confined his atten- tion to the practice of law and to the duties of good citizenship in the place of his residence, accepting many responsibilities which nat- urally fell upon him as a leader in civic imatters.
From his comparative seclusion, Mr. Mar- tin was called in 1883, by Gov. Charles Foster, to become a member of the Supreme Court commission to assist the Supreme Bench in clearing a docket which was many years in arrears. With the assistance of Judge Martin, the work of this commission was completed in two years. This appoint- ment as judge of the Supreme Court was particularly acceptable as it was a personal tribute to his qualifications as a lawyer, and was entirely removed from political prefer- ence. In 1885 and again in 1886, his party brought him forward as a candidate for su- preme judge, but since that time he never permitted the use of his name in connection with public office. Judge Martin was one of The most gifted of men-cultured, refined
GENERAL GEORGE SANDERSON
431
AND REPRESENTATIVE CITIZENS
and scholarly, truly one of Nature's noblemen. Well may the language of Antony, which he early history of Lancaster and Fairfield applied to Brutus, be applied to him : County and of the entire Hocking Valley that person was Gen. George Sanderson.
"His life was gentle; and the elements So mixed in him, that Nature might stand up And say to all the world 'This was a man ! "
His death occurred August, 1911.
In 1873, Judge Martin was married to Miss Anna Mithoff, daughter of G. A. Mit- hoff, formerly of Lancaster, O., and three of their children survive.
GOVERNOR MEDILL
Gov. William Medill. The name of Will- iam Medill must be added to the long list of Lancaster's famous men. He was not a na- tive of Ohio but was born in 1802 in the state of Delaware. He received a liberal education for those early days, was admitted to the bar, but did not gain as great eminence in his pro- fession as he did in politics. In 1835, 1836 and 1837 he was a member of the Ohio Legis- lature from Fairfield County from 1839 to 1843 he served two terms in Congress. Under President Polk, he was First Assistant Post- master General, and afterwards commissioner of Indian affairs. In 1850 he was a member of the Ohio Constitutional Convention, in 1851 was elected lieutenant-governor and in the year 1854 was elected governor. President Buchanan appointed Gov. Medill Comptroller of the Treasury which position he filled with credit. At the close of Buchanan's term he retired to Lancaster where he died in 1865. Gov. Medill was never married. At his death, he left his fine estate to his nephew and name- sake, William Medill, of Lancaster.
GROUP II
THE SANDERSON FAMILY
Editor's Note. In every community there is some one person who stands out promi-
nently among the other inhabitants. In the
Fairfield County is still honored by a nephew of Gen. George Sanderson, Mr. Will- iam Sanderson, a successful farmer residing three and a half miles east of Bremen. Mod- est in his tastes, but of the same sturdy stock, he reminds you at once of his uncle, the noted general.
It will be noted that frequent reference in these pages is made to the historic address of Gen. George Sanderson, delivered in 1844 before the Lancaster Literary Society. For this and other reasons it is deemed proper to give herewith a sketch of the Sanderson family, the facts for which were kindly fur- nished by Mr. William Sanderson, compiled by Rev. R. J. Black of Bremen and published in the "Lancaster Gazette" in 1899.
Your reference in the "Gazette" recently to the late General George Sanderson, for many years one of the leading citizens of Lancaster in the olden time, has interested not a few of your readers, especially those who were acquainted with him or with other members of the family. They were origin- ally from Scotland though they came to this country from the North of Ireland-Scotch- Irish as the term goes. Many of the Scotch were compelled to flee from their native land in the days of persecution-now most happily driven away by the light which has shined out of "The Written Word."
The family came to Ohio from Pennsyl- vania, making a short stop on the way in Kentucky and after a brief stay in Chilli- cothe, they located in Fairfield County. It it not certainly known from what part in Pennsylvania they came but most probably from Mifflin County, as quite a number of
432
HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY
the leading families in Eastern Fairfield -- the Larimers, the Works, the Hustons, the Blacks, the Mcculloughs, the Everitts, the McCandlishes, etc .- were from Mifflin County.
The parents of the family were Alexander Sanderson and Elizabeth Robertson. They were married in Pennsylvania Jan. 22, 1788, a hundred and eleven years ago. Their chil- (Iren were George, born Jan. 10, 1789; Mar- garet, born March II, 1791; Robert, born July 23, 1793; William A., born June 16, 1796; Alexander, born July 14, 1799; Eliza- beth, born May 7, 1802.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.